Agona Swedru Traditional Council commits towards ending child marriage within its jurisdiction

The Agona Swedru Traditional Council has made an official declaration, committing itself to supporting efforts towards ending child marriage within the Agona Nyakrom area in the Central Region.

They also issued a stern warning to perpetrators of this illegality that often led to Sexual and Gender-Based Violence (SGBV), teenage pregnancies, and other forms of harmful cultural practices, which often contributed to the increased rate female school dropouts, health complications and entrenched poverty among women and young girls.

The Council said it would fight the menace through education, advocacy, legal and other legitimate means, vowing that their resolution would remain valid until the objectives were achieved.

Okofo Okatakyi Nyarkoh Eku X, the Paramount Chief of the Agona Nyakrom Traditional area, said “we will ensure that any child who is below 18 years will not go into marriage and anybody who would act contrary to undermine the resolution of the Council, will be in serious trouble”.

He made the declaration at a durbar at his seat in the Agona Nyakrom palace, to crown a two-day workshop organised by the Obaapa Development Foundation, a Non-governmental Organisation focused on women development, with support from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Ghana, which is also the UN’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency.

The event was part of the national efforts to empower traditional and religious leaders, as well as the public towards ending end child marriages in Ghana.

Okofo Nyarkoh Eku said the Council, would not take it light on any parliamentary agreement or attempt to refrain them from conforming to their customary mandate and rights as a traditional council.

The Paramount Chief, alluding to the numerous dangers of child marriage, said they would work urgently in close collaboration with other stakeholders, including heads of schools, families, the police, the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana Health Service to mitigate the menace.

He said it was wrong for parents to throw their pregnant girls out of their homes to co-habit live with the men responsible for their pregnancies, maintaining that such acts fuelled child marriages.

Shortly after the declaration, Madam Halima Saadia Yakubu, the Chief Director of the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, led members of the Council to openly pledge to fight all harmful practices against children, especially girls, and to create a community where every child could reach their full potential.

Dr Wilfred Ochan, the Resident Representative, UNFPA, commended the Traditional Council for taking the bold decision to fight for the rights of young people.

He said child marriage remained a significant problem in Ghana, indicating that the prevalence of marriage by age 15 had stalled at about five per cent over the last 10 years, without any visible improvement.

The workshop had over 40 participants including Chiefs and Queen mothers from the Swedru and Agona Nyarkrom in the Agona West Municipal District of the Central Region, creating a platform for knowledge sharing, education on existing laws and sanctions against perpetrators of these threats against humanity.

Experts during the workshop, took the traditional leaders through the effects of early and child marriage, as well as related issues, including SGBV, teenage pregnancy, and numerous health complications.